Battle of Stoke Field - a 28mm wargame - Part 1

 Afternoon Folks

After some questions as to why we didn't fight Stoke Field as part of our attempt to refight every battle of the Wars of the Roses I am delighted to report that this Monday we will be rectifying this position and giving Stoke Field the Shed Wars/Never Mind the Billhooks treatment.

As my house moving plans proceed it dawned on me that I only have a few Mondays left to play games in the Surbiton shed and quite possibly this will be my last Wars of the Roses game before I move on west to Somerset. So it seemed in order to invite over the original motley crew who started off this sequence of games.

Initial Deployment at Stoke Field

Background

The Battle of Stoke Field was the final throw of the dice by the Yorkist cause to unseat King Henry VII from the throne he secured two years earlier at the Battle of Bosworth. Although often portrayed as a footnote to the Wars of the Roses Stoke Field was both larger in size and suffered heavier casualties than Bosworth. By the end of the battle all the leading Yorkist rebels were killed and Henry Tudor's grip on the English throne was secure.

How did this all come about? An imposter claiming to be Edward V (one of the missing princes in the tower) came to the attention of John de la Pole (Earl of Lincoln). This was perhaps Pole's chance of garnering support for the Yorkist cause. He himself had a claim on the crown as both a cousin of the deceased Richard III and as his named heir. Perhaps Pole used the imposter Lambert Simnel as a means to his own end.

Lincoln fled the English court in March 1487 for the continent where he met with his aunt, Margaret Duchess of Burgundy. Margaret furnished him with money and the support of 2000 German mercenaries under the command of Martin Schwartz. From Europe Pole left for Ireland where he was joined by Richard III's loyal ally Viscount Lovell and a sizeable Irish army lead by the Earl of Kildare.

Lambert Simnel (the imposter) was crowned King in Dublin on the 24th May whereupon the army the northwest coat of England.It then began it march south collecting support and rising its ranks to over 8000 men. Avoiding the northern Royal army lead by Scrope and Percy, the forces under Pole marched south. Skimishes continued on the journey south through Sherwood forest but these delayed the march. 

The smaller Tudor Vanguard faces the more numerous rebels

By June 14th Henry VII had arrived in Nottingham with his forces from the south and Wales. The Royal army mustered around 10,000 men. Not only did Henry outnumber the rebels but his troops were better armed and commanded.

The following day Henry's forces marched towards Newark. The Vanguard was lead by the experienced Earl of Oxford. On the 16th June Oxfords troops encountered the Yorkist army. They were lined along the higher ground just outside the village of East Stoke.

As the armies approached strange lights were seen in the sky, was this a portent ? The Yorkists had enjoyed such luck at the battle of Mortimer's Cross when the sun was split by a parahelion. Clearly the lights affected the Lancastrians as several men deserted their posts but the Earl of Oxford rallied his troops and immediately instructed his more numerous archers to open the battle. Under a barrage of missile fire the Yorkists had no choice but to come off the high ground and attack.  

Attacking the smaller vanguard of the Royalist army went well initially for the Yorkist cause but as the battle ground on and the reinforcements of the royal army arrived the tide began to turn. With renewed impetus the Tudor forces pressed home their advantage and the melee soon turned to a rout. 

Most of the Yorkist commanders were killed in the battle, Simnel was captured and in a spirit of leniency Henry VII spared his life and offered him a role in the royal kitchens. Henry VII had won the day. 

The experienced mercenaries with cannons, pikes and handguns

Bringing the Game to the Table

The Yorkist army is fully deployed on table. 

Only the Royal Vanguard under Oxford's command will be on the table at the start of the game

The 'Lights in the Sky' (what were they?) clearly had an impact on the Lancastrian forces as they were chronicled. As a result every non knight/men at arms unit on the Lancastrian vanguard must take a morale test at the beginning of the game. Most units should be ok, but roll a 2, 3 or 4 on two dice they will run away.

Inserted into the playing deck is an additional card called Lancastrian reinforcements. When drawn roll a d6 for each unit in the middle battle - on a 4,5 or 6 that unit will appear on the table edge at the beginning of next turn. Continue to do this each time until all the units from that Battle have arrived. Only once all the middle battle are on the table roll for the rearguard.

Morale tokens for the Lancastrians are added to the pot as they arrive.

Example of turn cards

The Orders of Battle

As always my orders of battle are loosely based on the commands and forces outlined in the Poleaxed books

Lancastrian – estimate 10000 men 

	Leader	Units	#units
Vanguard (6000)	John de Vere, Earl of Oxford (BC)	1 x Men at Arms 1 x Bow	2
	Rhys Ap Thomas	1 x Men at Arms 1 x Bill 2 x Bow	4
	Richard Neville	1 x Men at Arms 1 x Bill 2 x Bow	4
	Troutbeck	2 x Bill 2 x Bows	4
	Croft	2 x Bills 2 x Bows	4
	Scales	1 x Knights	1
	Savage	1 x Knights	1
			20
2nd Battle (2000)	Henry VII (BC)	2 x Lt Cannons 1 x Men At Arms	3
	Jasper Tudor	1 x Men at Arms 1 x Bow	2
	Fielding	1 x Bills 1 x Bows	2
	Arundel	1 x Bills 1 x Bows	2
	Bray	1 x Knights	1
	Gilbert Talbot	1 x Lt Cavalry	1
			11
Rear Guard (2000)	George Stanley, Lord Strange (BC)	1 x Men at Arms	1
	Cheyney	1 x Bills 1 x Bows	2
	Shrewsbury	1 x Bills 1 x Bows	2
	Hastings	1 x Bills 1 x Bows	2
	Blount	1 x Bills 1 x Bows	2
	Humphrey Stanley	1 x Lt Cavalry	1
			10
	Total		41

Off table Royal reinforcements

Yorkist

Estimates 8000 men

2000 Mercenaries, 2000 retainers, 4000 Irish

Note that the two German mercenary captains Merkel & Kohl are made up names

Note: Gallowglass will be treated as Bill Units

	Leader	Units	#units
Right Battle	Lincoln (BC)	1 x Men at Arms	1
	Lovell	1 x Men at Arms 1 x Bill 2 x Bow	4
	Broughton	2 x Bill 2 x Bow	4
		subtotal	10
Left Battle	Kildare (BC)	1 x Men at Arms	1
	Fitzgerald	2 x Bills 2 x Bows	4
	Og Plunkett	1 x Irish Gallowglass 3 x Kerns	4
	Eustace	1 x Irish Gallowglass 3 x Kerns	4
	Preston	1 x Irish Gallowglass 3 x Kerns	4
		subtotal	18
Centre Battle (2000)	Swartz (BC)	2 x Pike 2 x Handgunners 2 x Bombards	6
	Merkel	2 x Pike 1 x Handgunners	3
	Kohl	2 x Pike 1 x Handgunners	3
		subtotal	12
		Total	40

Waiting for battle to commence

Battle Report Here